Kulcha Kernel opened its doors in Allentown in 2018, celebrating African culture through clothing, fashion accessories and household goods as well as external care products free of toxic ingredients. Read on to learn about the shop’s mission and its offerings.
Explain the meaning behind the business’s name.
The name Kulcha Kernel in all actuality is a twist on what would have been "Culture Kernel.” Having migrated into the Lehigh Valley from northern New Jersey, we weren't sure how a cultural store that celebrates Afrocentrism would be received in the Lehigh Valley during a period of time where we perceived that the country was more focused on our differences as reason for division rather than causes for us to celebrate each other's uniqueness. When we conceptualized our store, we sought to showcase African culture and ideals through art, fashion and household goods as well as provide all persons with whom we came into contact with holistic internal and external care products that are very much the norm in Afro and Caribbean households, both today and since time immemorial.
We see culture as the expression of the essence of any people, and our goal was to be a place where persons of all walks of life can come experience culture intimately from its depth as one would when peeling off the surface of a fruit, going past its flesh and eventually ending up at the core of its seed, the “kernel.”
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Describe the variety of goods sold in-store, from health and beauty to accessories to art.
We have organic external body-care products that aim at aiding conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis and rosacea, just to mention a few, as well as a host of organic hair care products and oral care products. We aim to avoid the toxic ingredients that are prevalent in external body-care products, like parabens, sulfates, formaldehyde, glycols, fluoride, aluminum, hypoallergenics, alcohols, etc.
We also have a wide variety of organic teas, crushed herbs, powders and tonics that many can and have used as holistic ways to prevent and overcome a variety of ailments and diseases—even as we encourage our community to be mindful of what we eat and choose not to eat, as food is our first medicine.
True to our name, we have Afrocentric clothing, fashion accessories and household goods imported from Africa, with Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana taking the lion’s share as the source countries for these products.
Lastly, we carry a wide variety of incense, sage smudge sticks, scented and essential oils.
What are some of the best sellers and/or customer favorites?
Our organic teas, tonics, crushed herbs and powders are our top sellers. Our external body product line also does really well as it is shea butter based and void of the toxic chemical ingredients.
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Tell us about the makers behind the products that are sold in the store.
We source all of our Afrocentric products from Africa where we purchase at fair-trade prices directly from the manufacturers.
The external and internal body-care product lines are ones where we have chosen to go with brands that are reputable and reliable in producing holistic internal and external body-care products and are more tenured due to the sensitivity of this part of the product line.
Describe the overall shopping experience for customers.
We are committed to keeping our clientele first: their needs and wants are primary and meeting them with professionalism and respect is paramount.
Being that we and our staff reside in the Lehigh Valley, we see ourselves as part of the community—every day for us is an opportunity to better our community by firstly humanizing everyone who comes in our doors. Yes, we are a place of business but we are all human first. If we can all humanize each other, the world will be a better place. There is enough for everyone on this planet, so perhaps what we need more of is to humanize each other and understand that no commodity is greater than life. We need more empathy, kindness and respect in our society. Without these there is no harmony, and who wants to inhabit any space where there is no harmony?
1884 Catasauqua Rd., Allentown | 484.221.8187 | kulchakernel.com
Published as “Get the Goods” in the December 2023 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
